With American Cyclery having shuttered their “too” annex at 858 Stanyan Street at the end of 2016 in anticipation of a significant rent hike, the 2,650-square-foot, single-story building on the northeast corner of Stanyan and Frederick is now on the market for $2.5 million.

Priced and positioned as a “development opportunity,” the corner parcel is zoned for development up to 50 feet in height.

And as a “Neighborhood Commercial Cluster” site, the 858 Stanyan Street parcel is not only zoned for a ground floor retail space, but housing is actively encouraged to be built above the ground story as well.

Having sold at asking, Elevation Architects has since drafted plans for a four-story addition to the existing structure, a project which would yield three (3) contemporary condos, two (2) three-bedrooms and one (1) four, over a renovated, but smaller, commercial space and a larger garage for three (3) cars.

And the public hearing at which the proposed 858 Stanyan / 490 Frederick Street addition could be approved has now been slated for September 27.

Recent Articles

Comments from “Plugged-In” Readers

I consider myself a fan of modern architecture – I even like several of Saitowitz’ designs – but this is a terrible fit with the surroundings. It would be great if it could be built though: Cole Valley could use some more listings.

As we noted above, it’s technically “a four-story addition” to the existing structure (for a total of five floors and 50 feet in height). But our choice of word was deliberate beyond the technical as well.

What would this cost to build this on a $psf basis? If it is 5 stories it could all be wood-framed, though they might want concrete for the retail spans.

In the central valley, I think it would be $275 or so, sticks and bricks. Is it $500/$600/$700 here in SF?

Also, no one builds three and four bedrooms. Someone is not serious about this design – either the ‘developer’ or the architect. Or it’s really a four bedroom-coop-shared-living-bros-space, and they are trying to duck parking or BMR requirements.

I moved to Cole Valley six months ago and fell in love with the charm of the Edwardian style homes. I am all for building up and providing more housing in the area, but this design simply does not fit the beauty of our neighborhood. I hope the architects can show another design that’s more fitting.

As has been said before, YES to building more housing, but good lord, NO to the design. Architects: please consider the surroundings when choosing a design. While this design might look good in Mission Bay, it just doesn’t feel “at home” in Cole Valley. You can do so much better!

JK and JL: what you’re not understanding is that most architects sneer at the very concept of new buildings fitting in with their surroundings. Nowadays, every new building is supposed to look like it could be built anywhere in the world, with no connection to it’s context whatsoever.

Through streets like Stanyan, Geary, Lincoln, California, etc. West of Divisidaro should be built up with a mix of housing and commercial. See the building at Geary and Stanyan where a 76 service station stood for so long. However, the design of the building must be required to match the neighborhood architecture. This proposal is a success on the former and a failure on the latter. Fix the facade and build it.